After visiting Granny Zhou, Pei Chuan and Bei Yao both returned to the residential area. It happened to be monthly holiday, and Bei Yao had just returned home.
As soon as she reached the entrance of the community, she saw her younger brother Bei Jun and several other children squatting and digging for earthworms.
The children were digging enthusiastically. When Bei Jun's bright black eyes caught sight of her, they instantly lit up. His small hands were dirty, but he stood up and dashed into Bei Yao's arms, calling out crisply, "Sister!"
Bei Yao crouched down and gently hugged him.
Little Bei Jun nuzzled his head against her chest.
Anyone could see his affection and attachment to his sister.
Then, little Bei Jun noticed the older boy beside his sister.
Pei Chuan stared coldly at him, his expression icy. Bei Jun shrank back into Bei Yao's arms. Though he was usually brave, he didn't dare make a sound now.
Pei Chuan's gaze fell on the grimy little hand resting on Bei Yao's shoulder.
Bei Yao noticed her brother's fear. Although Bei Jun was only four years old, he wasn't usually timid. She then saw him looking timidly at Pei Chuan.
Bei Yao said, "This is Brother Pei Chuan. Have you forgotten, Xiao Jun?"
Bei Jun kept his little mouth tightly shut and refused to greet him.
Pei Chuan didn't look at the siblings and went upstairs.
He had never hugged Bei Yao, not even once. Yet, he had experienced such tenderness when he was young. Unfortunately, as they grew up, even if she was somewhat naive, she understood the boundaries between boys and girls and kept her distance from him. It was like the boundary he had drawn back then—when she was a little girl with her hair in small buns, she would inadvertently cross it, but as she grew older, she adhered to the line between them.
Little Bei Jun whispered in his sister's ear, "I don't like him."
Bei Yao chuckled and asked her brother, "Then who do you like?"
"Brother Hu Zi."
Bei Yao's almond-shaped eyes curved into a smile. "Yes, Brother Pei Chuan is so fierce."
"Sister, are you afraid of him too?"
"Mm."
"Brother Hu Zi is better. He plays with us."
Bei Yao thought to herself that Pei Chuan really had no natural affinity with children. When he was young, he had no playmates, and now that he was older, children still didn't like him. Bei Jun didn't know this Brother Pei Chuan, but out of a child's instinct, he could tell that this older boy had a terrible temper.
~
Zhao Zhilan had called the police two days earlier. The officers searched but could no longer find the dog that had frightened her daughter and son.
Though it wasn't the season for rapeseed flowers, as a mother, Zhao Zhilan remained worried. For the past two days, she had personally picked up and dropped off her son. After a long time without seeing the dog, she finally felt relieved.
Four-year-old Bei Jun carried a small sword every day, ready to take on the world.
While Zhao Zhilan cooked and Bei Yao did her homework, he would go with his friends to climb the mulberry trees outside the community.
The mulberry trees were very old, and the community was old too—their age far exceeded that of the children.
Bei Jun was the youngest. He watched as several seven- or eight-year-old boys climbed up effortlessly, while he struggled with his small arms and legs.
One of the boys laughed, "Hahaha, Bei Jun, just stop trying. You can watch from down there."
Bei Jun felt extremely wronged. "I want to play with you!"
"Just play with your precious sword."
The laughter came to an abrupt halt.
A boy in the tree stared in terror at the black dog charging toward them from afar. "That dog!"
Bei Jun, holding his small sword, burst into tears instantly. It was the same dog he had seen with his sister that day. It barked furiously as it rushed over, and Bei Jun couldn't even hold onto his toy sword steadily.
The wild dog lunged forward, and the children all cried in fear.
Yet, none of the boys in the tree dared to rescue their younger companion.Everyone was terrified, having heard that wild dogs could tear a child's body apart.
Bei Jun, his eyes blurred with tears, was lifted into a strong, cold embrace.
The young man shouted, "Shut the hell up."
Bei Jun was so frightened he fell silent.
Because he had to hold him, Pei Chuan frowned tightly.
He held Bei Jun with one hand and placed him in a tree.
The dog had already bitten his leg.
Bei Jun clung to the tree trunk, looking down.
The young man was shirtless, his expression cold as he punched the wild dog in the head again and again. Then he pressed it against a rock and smashed it.
The dog was so frenzied, fearless and desperate, struggling violently amidst the children's cries. The young man's gaze was cold and fierce, and the wild dog gradually fell silent, twitching as it collapsed under the tree.
It wasn't far from the residential area, and the barking and the children's loud cries had drawn the adults over.
Bei Yao ran downstairs and saw several adults gathered there.
Pei Chuan was sitting on the ground with his knees bent, his hands covered in blood, the wild dog's corpse lying beside him.
Her younger brother was crying his heart out in the tree.
Zhao Zhilan, her hands still greasy, could easily guess what had happened. She was terrified out of her wits and lifted little Bei Jun down from the tree.
The parents of the other children did the same, retrieving their kids.
The dog most likely had rabies.
The adults were frantic, checking their children's bodies.
Bai Yutong came down to see the commotion and saw her stepbrother sitting on the ground, his expression as cold as ice in December.
The dog's corpse was gruesome, its eyes unclosed, revealing menacing teeth.
For a moment, Bai Yutong was frightened. Was this even human? Could a person beat a wild dog's brains out with their bare hands?
His hands were covered in blood as he sat there, motionless.
There were several dog bite marks on his pant legs. Yet everyone was busy checking the children, and no one went to help him up.
Bei Yao's heart felt as if it had been drenched in a bucket of ice water. She pushed through the crowd and ran over.
Her almond-shaped eyes filled with tears as she tried to help him up. "Pei Chuan."
He glanced at her silently.
It had been so many years since she had last cried for him.
His hands were covered in filthy blood.
The memory of him killing the snake during their childhood spring outing resurfaced in her mind, the innocent gazes avoiding him like the plague.
He gently pushed Bei Yao away with his elbow, his heart feeling hollow.
So even after growing up, becoming wealthy, and gaining cunning, he still couldn't be a hero—only an outcast.
The surrounding cries paused for a moment as Pei Chuan pushed Bei Yao's help away and struggled to stand up on his own.
But he fell back down.
Only then did everyone realize—the young man's calf had been badly bitten.
Silence fell.
He wasn't normal, so he lost his balance. He tried twice, looking utterly disheveled, and never once glanced at Bei Yao. Finally, on the third try, he gritted his teeth and stood up.
Everyone around was watching him, but he didn't look at anyone. Clinging to his last shred of dignity, he dragged his useless severed limb toward his home.
He passed by Bai Yutong, carrying the chill and the scent of blood from late September. Bai Yutong took a step back, staring at him in fear and shock.
He walked away.
Bei Yao crouched on the ground, burying her face in her knees. Her body trembled as she wept uncontrollably.
~
For the first time, Bei Yao realized so profoundly that some things were not Pei Chuan's fault.She grieved that despite over a decade of companionship, Pei Chuan had failed to become a good person. Yet she forgot that throughout those years, human hearts remained unchanged. He had long lost the parents who would anxiously cry, "Son, are you alright?"
Neighbors who watched him grow up all knew he was an eccentric loner. He saved their children, yet no one dared to help him up.
The police arrived, and subsequent tests confirmed it was indeed a rabid dog.
Zhao Zhilan was terrified, hastily arranging to take Bei Jun for medical checkups. After all, when the incident occurred, only Bei Jun had been standing under the tree.
She was a strong yet fragile mother, ordinarily kind-hearted, but when faced with such danger, her instinctive fear of losing the son she carried for ten months overwhelmed everything else.
Bei Jun, utterly frightened, sobbed on the couch.
Only Bei Yao, tear-streaked, didn't come to hug him this time.
Zhao Zhilan rushed out to find the children's uncle—their uncle was a doctor.
"Jiejie, hug me," Bei Jun cried.
Bei Yao remained motionless.
"Jiejie, hug me," he pleaded again, reaching out. Bei Yao harshly slapped his hand away.
Bei Jun stared in shock.
Throughout his life, Zhao Zhilan would scold him, Bei Licai would yell at him, but Bei Yao had never even spoken a harsh word to him. This was the first time his sister had ever struck him.
Then he watched as Bei Yao cried even more bitterly than he did.
The sixteen-year-old girl wept uncontrollably, unable to form words.
Panicked, Bei Jun went to hug his sister, crying with her—though he didn't understand why she had hit him.
Bei Yao pushed him away, choking out: "I've watched over him for so many years, but you're the one who hurt him worse than anyone ever has."
Bei Jun didn't understand and burst into louder sobs.
"He wouldn't have come otherwise," Bei Yao said.
She knew he was bad, cold-blooded. If it hadn't been Bei Jun, he wouldn't have intervened.
The prosthetic leg beneath his torn pants was exposed for all to see. His last shred of dignity had been torn away and crushed. She even wondered—would he die? Everyone knew the danger of a rabid dog, yet Pei Chuan, who was most severely injured, remained neglected.
Wiping her tears, Bei Yao reluctantly called her father to come home.
She walked downstairs, her steps unsteady.
Unlike her own window adorned with ever-blooming flowers and gentle fragrance, his window across the way was sealed with gray curtains, shutting out the world's sunlight.
~
Pei Chuan removed his prosthetic leg and lay on the bed with closed eyes.
He hadn't washed his hands, ignoring Cao Li's horrified stare as he returned to his room and shut the door.
Soon, Bai Yutong returned home. "Mom, where is he?" she asked, voice trembling.
"In his room," Cao Li said, removing her apron. "What happened downstairs?"
"I'm not sure. He seemed to have been bitten by a stray dog—a huge one. He actually killed it. Can you believe it? He smashed its brains out. He's insane. Do you think someday he might—"
"Enough!" Cao Li realized her own voice was shaking. Struggling to compose herself, she remembered her stepson's pants, pierced with multiple bite marks.
Could he have contracted some disease?
Though cunning and fond of domestic scheming, Cao Li felt her legs weaken when faced with life-or-death matters.
Neither mother nor daughter dared knock on the closed door. Cao Li could only call Pei Haobin, who was still at work.
Bai Yutong's teeth chattered. "It's too terrifying. I don't want to stay here with him. I'm leaving."Cao Li pinched her hard and hissed in a low voice, "If Uncle Pei comes back and sees you like this, do you still think you can live comfortably in the Pei family? You might as well go drink the northwest wind! If you want to be stupid, don’t drag me down with you!"
Bai Yutong didn’t dare make a sound.
The doorbell rang.
Bai Yutong was ordered to answer the door.
She saw a pair of tear-filled eyes. The girl outside the door carried the chill of early autumn, her delicate face bearing the kind of captivating beauty that Bai Yutong had gritted her teeth over countless times in envy.
Yet this beautiful face belonged to a girl not yet sixteen, her eyes red and swollen from crying.
Bai Yutong was stunned, almost forgetting her fear.
Bei Yao never visited their home—this was the first time since Bai Yutong and her mother had moved in.
Bai Yutong thought in disbelief, "Could this girl, the most beautiful she had ever seen in her life, possibly be here for her disabled, half-dead, and neglected stepbrother?"
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